Seeking thoughts on the Panorama vs its older siblings (Radiance and Miracle)

[KarmaCruisers]

LBC is our home port.

We’ve done quite a few 4 night and 7 night cruises out of it (Inspiration, Imagination, Splendor, Miracle, Panorama, and this weekend the Radiance)

IMHO; for a 3-4 night sailing (Ensenada run) we prefer the smaller ships (Fantasy Class, Spirit Class). We recently took a 10 day Alaska on the miracle and got real bored of the lack of dining options. 
For a 7 day cruise you definitely want more options than just Lido and MDR. (Ie; the Radiance and Panorama have many more options like Cucina and Guy’s BBQ).

Personally, I hated the Panorama, because it seems like these newer ships are trying to cram more staterooms on, so everything ELSE is smaller and there’s more people aboard.

We actually really loved the Splendor for its roomyness; however it also only has the Lido and MDR. 
End result:

short cruise, a smaller ship is OK. 
longer cruise, we want a bigger boat with more variety.

also I believe the Radiance is “newer” than Panorama (I say in quotes because I know it was the Triumph before, but it was completely redone)

Edited September 1, 2022 by KarmaCruisers

[helene109]

7 hours ago, Wennfred said:

 

Helene, I think I posted all of my Panorama reviews on my Roll Calls, Let me see if I can look them up and link them here.

 

Panorama Roll Call 18 Dec 2021

Panorama Roll Call 13 Nov 2021

Panorama Roll Call 18 Sep 2021

 

Heres the start of the November one;

 

 

 

Great thanks! Still narrowed it down to this one and the other 2! Tough decision! With Southwest we can fly into Long Beach. But I wouldn’t know where to stay and how far anything is from the pier. Hopefully it says it in your reviews. Thanks again!

[helene109]

On 7/30/2022 at 12:30 PM, havanadaydreaming said:

Was on Panorama last month.  Ive sailed 3 lines, big and small ships. Older and newer. Ive really enjoyed them all.  

 

If im being hypercritical here is what i didnt like about Panorama. 

 

*limited buffet spread.  I miss having 2x the options.  

 

*Guy's new fries.  Blah.  

 

*flying to LA from the midwest, with a layover in Utah.  

 

 

Other than that nothing but good times.  Beautiful ship.  

Where did you stay? We would fly from Chicago to Long Beach. Thanks 

[helene109]

5 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

LBC is our home port.

We’ve done quite a few 4 night and 7 night cruises out of it (Inspiration, Imagination, Splendor, Miracle, Panorama, and this weekend the Radiance)

IMHO; for a 3-4 night sailing (Ensenada run) we prefer the smaller ships (Fantasy Class, Spirit Class). We recently took a 10 day Alaska on the miracle and got real bored of the lack of dining options. 
For a 7 day cruise you definitely want more options than just Lido and MDR. (Ie; the Radiance and Panorama have many more options like Cucina and Guy’s BBQ).

Personally, I hated the Panorama, because it seems like these newer ships are trying to cram more staterooms on, so everything ELSE is smaller and there’s more people aboard.

We actually really loved the Splendor for its roomyness; however it also only has the Lido and MDR. 
End result:

short cruise, a smaller ship is OK. 
longer cruise, we want a bigger boat with more variety.

also I believe the Radiance is “newer” than Panorama (I say in quotes because I know it was the Triumph before, but it was completely redone)

Where would you suggest to stay if I flew into Long Beach? Thanks again 

[Wennfred]

9 hours ago, helene109 said:

Great thanks! Still narrowed it down to this one and the other 2! Tough decision! With Southwest we can fly into Long Beach. But I wouldn’t know where to stay and how far anything is from the pier. Hopefully it says it in your reviews. Thanks again!

 

Hotel Maya by Hilton, nice hotel by the water and you can see the ship dock around 7:40am while having breakfast at their restaurant.  

Hotel Maya to the pier probably 5 minutes in a Uber.

[jerseygirlinAZ]

We stayed at the Marriott close to Hotel Maya.  It was a nice place.  Free breakfast.  

[pinto18]

Been on Panorama 3 times and just got off Radiance. Have also been on the Miracle. I did not feel the Radiance was "run down" ..in general you cant really compare a 4 day to a 7 day. I like the ports on the 7 day much better and yes the 7 day usually has less of a party vibe. But if you "hated" the Radiance and Miracle, wondering if maybe Carnival just isn't for you?

[Salidaboy209]

On 7/29/2022 at 9:11 AM, juanarcin said:

I always fly out for cruises since most  have been European or Asian (I've only done 9), but right before the pandemic, I had some time off. I decided to take a solo cruise and skip the flight since I live in Los Angeles and have a port at driving distance. I booked a cruise to Ensenada on the Miracle and I was shocked at how bad of a time I had! The ship seemed like it was falling apart, the food was steps below other ships, the people were rude and aggressive... I didn't let it ruin my trip, but was just shocked as this single experience had tainted my idea that all cruises were amazing. I took another one about a year later on the Radiance and it was the same thing! I learned that booze cruises are not what I'm into.

 

Now here we are years later and my wife and I decided to introduce some of our family to cruising. We were thinking of taking a small group somewhere like New Orleans, or New York and doing a cruise from there. But as we asked who would be interested we were surprised to see how many signed up...now with 15 people on board, we decided we should keep it simple and just have everyone drive down to Long Beach... you can see where this is going LOL!

 

So obviously the Panorama is much newer and larger. But I have been hyping up cruises to my family and now that I will be taking 15 of them on one, I'm starting to get nervous. I'm concerned that the issues are more based on itinerary, locals (I'm from LA so I understand how "animated" we can be), or maybe even Carnival (most of my cruises have been RCL). But to be fair the other two ships were short 3-4 day cruises on old smaller ships. Our upcoming one will be 7 day on a newer larger ship. So I'm 95% positive it will be a closer experience to what I'm used to on my 11 day RCL cruises, but wanted to hear from others who have sailed out of long beach on these ships. I just need help going from 95% to 100%! LOL

 

Either way I'm sure we will make the best of it and enjoy ourselves.

No comparison. The Panorama dining, public spaces, entertainment, and decor is far superior to the other ships you mentioned. The only drawback is the number of passengers it holds. Many places were just crowded. I’d recommend a Havana cabin. The Havana area gets you away from the crowds. You will not be disappointed. 

[tree.critter]

I have also cruised Miracle 10 day Alaska out of SF this year and Panorama out of LB for 7 day Mexican Riviera. I loved both cruises, Alaska destination is hard to beat but the ship seemed much less crowded and overall a very “simple” cruise. The Panorama was a lot of fun, enjoyed the ports. Many more food options on larger ship, food quality was basically the same, I mostly do salads so not really a good judge on that.  With 15 family members joining in I would go with the larger ship, there will be more activities to do for different aged groups, and you’ll be able to take a break from them easily when needed too. I liked the Miracle enough to book her for 15 day Hawaii next year and the Panorama with sister again too. 

[Theosprey247]

Panorama 

Pros: newer, serenity area has 2 hot tubs (Radiance only has one), the elevators are great and easy to use, can park at the port (we live in SoCal)
 

Radiance 

Pros: Shaq’s Big Chicken, can park at the port.

 

Miracle. I’ve never been on the miracle but you have to park at the convention center and shuttle over.

 

Firenze will find out next year. 

[Itried4498]

Not sure why we bumped an old thread but…

 

There’s nothing wrong with the Miracle or Radiance.  The lion’s share of cruises in Europe and Asia are on older ships — Port Canaveral, Miami/Fort Lauderdale and now Galveston get the lion’s share of sailings on the newest — so unless you’re seeking out the new ships….

 

Some people are simply unsatisfied knowing that there’s newer and better ships out there.  If you’re one of those book elsewhere.  Los Angeles doesn’t command the same fares as Florida for obvious reasons, so historically we get older ships.  We now have the Panorama, Princess’ newest ships and two of NCL’s newest ships sailing here part year, so things are looking up.

[Woken]

We have cruised out of Long Beach for many years also as many have stated. We took the Panorama out in October in 2021. Beautiful ship, it seemed classy to us, something out of Vegas like Aria. A few months later we were on the Miricale in March of 2022. When we got onto the ship my wife almost cried. She was in shock between the 2 ships. The good news is that by the time we were done on the Miracle she loved it. This all goes back to what you want to make out of your vacation. I would be more than happy to be on a cruise ship than being at work any day!!!

[jimbo5544]

On 7/30/2022 at 1:51 PM, sanmarcosman said:

We have sailed Panorama 9 times since January and like the layout and design of the ship. We used to sail Miracle for years so after 9 Panorama sailings we booked a 5 day cruise on Miracle in April of this year. We were sorry we did. After the bright and light filled interiors of Panorama the Miracle was as dark as a cave and gloomy. 

 

How are the interior rooms different?

[philbob84]

The Radiance just came out of a extensive refit and will have alot of the latest ship cosemtic and resturant trends, Panomrama is newer but does not have all the latest fit. 

[PMI1]

I love the Panorama.  I prefer staying in Spa 9 cabins.  The Panorama  has the original termalosity pools that are featured on the Dream class.  The Radiance dose not even contain a downgraded Dream class of a large hot tub in Cloud 9.  Something to keep in mind if you enjoy the Cloud 9 experience.  Not everyone enjoys Cloud 9 but if it is important to you, please keep this in mind. 

 

[FastShip24]

On 8/6/2023 at 1:09 PM, Salidaboy209 said:

No comparison. The Panorama dining, public spaces, entertainment, and decor is far superior to the other ships you mentioned. The only drawback is the number of passengers it holds. Many places were just crowded. I’d recommend a Havana cabin. The Havana area gets you away from the crowds. You will not be disappointed. 

Been on the Panorama twice.  Beautiful ship.  Easy cruise

[pc_load_letter]

Wife and I prefer Radiance. Shaqs big chicken for the win!

[pppiglet]

On 8/30/2022 at 9:16 AM, pc_load_letter said:

I enjoyed Radiance more than I did Panorama.

We did too.  Panorama was just too big.  Too many rooms and people.  The best part about it was the Havana area.  I would only book the Havana area if going on this ship again.  

 

Radiance was just our size.  Loved our regular balcony room.  Food was better on Radiance, but both buffets didn't have much to select from and overly crowded.  

[KarmaCruisers]

32 minutes ago, pppiglet said:

Food was better on Radiance, but both buffets didn't have much to select from and overly crowded.  

The buffet on the radiance is a sad joke. BUT it makes up for it by having Cucina, Guys Smokehouse, and Big Chicken.

[rainbowflag]

1 minute ago, KarmaCruisers said:

The buffet on the radiance is a sad joke. BUT it makes up for it by having Cucina, Guys Smokehouse, and Big Chicken.

It's weird how the buffets can be different between 2 Carnival ships. Carnival Panorama has Funfetti Cheesecake on the buffet on embark day as well as 2 kinds of fresh gelato. Radiance has neither of those. Panorama doesn't put out cottage cheese in the morning buffet next to the chilled fresh assorted fruit but the Radiance does. I understand the gelato being a feature of Vista Class ships but can't both ships have Funfetti cheesecake at lunch and cottage cheese at breakfast? 

[KarmaCruisers]

So we’re on the radiance right now..quite literally this is the entirety of the buffet on the Lido deck, captured in one shot, from above (Cucina Del Capitano)

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:05 AM, helene109 said:

Where would you suggest to stay if I flew into Long Beach? Thanks again 

Pacific Inn, Seal Beach is our favorite. We also like Hotel Current in Long Beach. And for real convivence The Queen Mary has reopened and accepting reservations.